THE Northern Irishman looked right at home at windswept Royal Aberdeen with a superb seven-under par 64 that rocketed him to the top of the Scottish Open leaderboard.

Rory McIlroy in action in the first round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

RAMPANT Rory McIlroy hit the longest drive of his life on the way to a record-breaking round he rates one of the best of his career.

Links golf might not be his favoured style of play but the Northern Irishman looked right at home at windswept Royal Aberdeen with a superb seven-under par 64 that rocketed him to the top of the Scottish Open leaderboard.

That adds this challenging Balgownie links to his collection of course records, which also includes prestigious venues like Royal Portrush, St Andrews and Quail Hollow – but ironically not his home course, Holywood in County Down.

Yet it was another personal best that lit up his opening round when a monster 436-yard drive found the green at the par-four 13th hole.

It was a feat assisted by the 20mph gusts buffeting the course but it’s still a huge distance to skelp a golf ball – and just six yards off Shiv Kapur’s 442-yard blast at the 2012 Madeira Islands Open, considered the longest drive in European Tour history.

McIlroy was understandably caught by surprise as much as his Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter, playing in the group ahead, who turned around to see a golf ball skipping towards him.

The Northern Irishman said: “I told Poulter it was a three wood! The guys were still on the green and it just trickled up to them so Poulter was looking back flexing his muscles. When I got up there they all said good shot, great drive or whatever.

“Obviously it was wind-assisted and downhill on firm conditions but it was a good drive. I was confident with it because I knocked it on the green yesterday in the pro-am too. So I was pretty sure of what line to take and just stepped up and hit a good one.

“It was nice to see it go over the hill and on the green. I did my best to try to make a par but fortunately managed to make birdie!

“I don’t recall hitting a drive longer than that. I know I’ve hit drives over 400 yards before but that’s certainly up there.

Rory McIlroy's sets a new course record at Royal Aberdeen with his first round of 64

“The wind had a big influence today. The stats guys always measure a drive into the wind on the front nine and downwind on the back nine.

“So they measured on the seventh, where I hit a really good one and it only went 255 yards. Then they measured on 12 and I hit it 373 yards. So that just shows the difference between hitting into the wind and downwind.

“I normally hit a four iron through the air 225 yards. Today I hit one on the seventh hole that pitched about 160. So that’s almost a 70‑yard difference.

“So this has to rank up there as one of the best rounds I’ve ever played on a links course. Obviously I’ve shot a few good scores at Portrush, St Andrews and a couple at Portmarnock in the Irish Amateur. But in the conditions today, this is as low as I’ve gone with the wind this high.

“So regardless of the score it’s the way I played that was the most pleasing thing.

“I was pleased with how I controlled my game and my ball flight.

“After practising some of the shots I have been working on over the last 10 days to go out and be able to trust it in a tournament round was great.

“If I can keep on playing like that over the next few days and then into next week, that’s the type of golf that I need to play to have success on courses like this.”

Controlled, accurate and disciplined. Three qualities that McIlroy showed to tame these testing conditions in stark contrast to this time last year.

“Brain dead” and “unconcious” were the words he used to describe his golf after missing the cut at last year’s Open at Muirfield.

But as he prepares to mount another challenge for the Claret Jug next week the 25-year-old couldn’t feel in better shape.

McIlroy added: “It’s chalk and cheese compared to a year ago.

“This time last year I was searching for everything, trying to get the ball under control. I was working on a few things in my swing and not too confident with anything. This year it’s very different.

“I’m confident with my swing. I’m controlling my ball flight well and that translates into going out and shooting good scores.

“I’m also as strong mentally as I’ve felt. I’m more confident than ever in my ability to hit the shots I need to in winds like this. So yeah, I feel like I’m as prepared as I have ever been to play this sort of golf.”

He wasn’t the only one to get to grips with the conditions which, though tough, proved to be less severe than the forecast that had the big names bracing themselves on the eve of the tournament.

Still, the leaderboard tells the story that the early starters enjoyed Balgownie at its most benign as the vast majority of the top 10 began before noon.

In the first group out at 6.30am, Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg set a breathless pace into the jaws of the north-west wind to reach the turn in an impressive four-under par that not even McIlroy could match.

However, his back nine was less spectacular than the Ulsterman’s but Broberg can still be very satisfied with a six-under 65 to share second place with Ricardo Gonzalez.

The Argentine admitted afterwards he was inspired to go out and do well after watching his national football heroes book their place in the World Cup final with a penalty shootout victory over Holland the night before.

Gonzalez said: “I enjoyed watching the game and maybe this was the key to playing well today.

“This was one of my best rounds of the year and to do it with my son on the bag too made it even more special.”